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Gun Wiki:Manual of Style
__NOEDITSECTION__ This Manual of Style outlines a standard of clean, consistent formatting for articles on the . The formatting described here is a guideline and can be overridden where circumstances warrant it. These guidelines will never be perfect for every situation. However, please keep to the standard format outlined in this article so others may use your edits as an example when creating and editing other articles. These guidelines are a summary of the most important guidelines for this wiki. A sample article based off these guidelines can be found on Project:Manual of Style/Sample. Article titles When naming an article, include the manufacture name and then the model name or number (i.e. Glock 17.) Make sure to properly capitalize the name. If you see a improper article name, please contact an administrator or follow the Please note that some weapons may be manufactured by more than one manufacturer. These weapons (such as the AR-15 and the 1911) do not require a manufacturer in the title. Grammar Grammar is a writer's toolbox. You can't build good sentences without knowing how to use your tools. Since a wiki article must be as clear as possible for all the people reading it, editors must keep close to correct grammar standards to ensure clear communication. Capitalization Manufacturers such as "Glock" or "Smith & Wesson" start with a capital letter when used: for example, use "Glock" not "glock." Even when used in a sentence, brand names are considered as real names (proper nouns), as in "Smith & Wesson manufactures handguns, shotguns, and rifles." Article layout This section will discuss, in detail, how articles are to be formatted here on the Gun Wiki. Bear in mind that this is a BASIC layout; some articles may be structured differently (i.e. the Design details section divided into sub-sections, describing the sights, receiver, and other working parts, or the History section divided into different time periods). This enables better organization. Firearms When writing articles about firearms, the introduction is written first. It should outline the basic details about the firearm; the name of the firearm, any alternate names for it (no street slang), who manufactures it, what type of weapon it is (pistol, rifle, shotgun, musket, revolver, etc.), what action it uses (semi-automatic, pump-action, bolt-action, lever-action, select-fire, single action, double action, single shot, striker-fired, etc.), and what caliber the weapon is chambered to use. The template displaying the firearm's details (using the template) will be in this first section, above the article's text; if there is no template, an image of the firearm will suffice; it is to be 300px in size. If 300px is too large to fit into the page's formatting (the .260 Remington article is an example of this), tweaking of the image's size is permitted to ensure that it fits neatly within the article. History This section should explain the history of the firearm's development; how it came to be, who designed it, where it currently sees use (if applicable), etc. Go into detail if you can. Do your BEST to remain unbiased; this section should not sound like a propaganda piece for another weapon/company/country. Current and former users may be identified in this section as well. If it isn't common knowledge, a reference will be needed; unreferenced material WILL be removed. Design details The next section should be the design details. Here, you should go into detail about the weapon's operational mechanisms; if you do not have the technical expertise or knowledge, it is OK to search the internet for information regarding this. Try not to copy and paste and always try to verify your information before hitting the 'submit' button. In the event that you do copy and paste something, cite the source. To cite a source, you insert the tags at the end of the material that needs a source, and write in the source between the tags. Failure to do so will lead to the pasted material being removed. This section should also be the section where you outline the role each part plays in the operation of the weapon. Feel free to go into detail. Lastly, this section should explain the ammunition used and the feeding system. Some firearms have several different models chambered in several different calibers. This should be noted here. Magazine capacity and chamber dimensions should be discussed here. Manual of arms If you know the manual of arms of a particular weapon (how to reload, shoot, and maintain it, etc.), then this section is where you should fill in that particular information. Configurations If the firearm has different ways it can be configured without changing the base weapon (think add-ons like red-dot sights, telescopic sights, back-up iron sights, vertical foregrips, muzzle devices, stocks, pistol grips, rails, handguards, barrels with the same chamber but different length), these are listed here. Feel free to go into detail. Trivia This is where anything substantive that does not fit in other sections will go. Here, you can cite where the firearm in question has appeared in other media (movies, video games, etc.). This section is NOT for random tidbits of generally meaningless information; the information contained herein must add to the article. References If there was any material where you had to cite a source, this section would go here. Insert the tag so that the sources will appear here. Ammunition When writing articles about ammunition, the introduction is written first. It should outline the basic details about the cartridge; name of the cartridge, any alternate names for it (no street slang), who manufactures it, and what type of cartridge it is (pistol, rifle, shotgun, etc.). The template displaying the cartridge's details (using the template) will be in this first section, above the article's text. If there is no template, an image of the ammunition will suffice; the image is to be 300px in size. If the image is too large or small at 300px, then it may be resized as necessary. History This section should explain the history of the caliber's development; how it came to be, who designed it, where it currently sees use (if applicable), etc. Go into detail if you can. Do your BEST to remain unbiased; this section should not sound like a propaganda piece for another caliber/company/country. Design Details The next section should be the design details. This should explain the design of the cartridge; its powder loading (if available), the appearance of the casing, the types of projectiles (bullets, slugs, buckshot, birdshot, etc.) it uses, the weight of the projectiles it uses (measured in grains), the pressure the cartridge produces when fired, and the flight and terminal ballistics (if available). If you don't know all this information, just fill in what you know and if you feel up to it, research and find out more. Variations Some cartridges have variations that are loaded to higher pressures, and may have different projectiles (hollow points, soft points, armor piercing, high explosive, etc.). This is the section where you would go into detail about the aforementioned variants. This is also the section where you list any military or overpressure (+P, +P+) variations by name. Feed Systems In this section, simply tell what the cartridge is normally fed from (en bloc clip, magazine, belt, etc.) Final Note Some articles exist only to define terms. Should you find yourself writing one of these articles, simply define the term and do not mark it as a stub; these articles are never very long. Make sure you have your terminology correct. A malfunction is not a jam, a cartridge is not a bullet, a magazine is not a clip. If you are unsure, ask around or search the term here on the wiki. Do not paste information verbatim from another source; this includes Wikipedia. You may pick out information from other sources, but we are all about quality over quantity; we would much rather have a few articles with lots of good information than a lot of articles with bad/incorrect/useless information. Main Page Some pages may contain a brief summary of information that is elaborated on elsewhere on a dedicated page. To direct the user to the main page, use and the main page itself after the bar like this . The result will be: Lead section Unless an article is very short, it should start with an introductory lead section before the first subheading. The lead should not be explicitly entitled Introduction or any other header. The table of contents appears after the lead section and before the first subheading. The lead should be capable of standing alone as a concise overview of the article, establishing context, and explaining why the subject is interesting or notable. It should be between one or two paragraphs long, and should be written in a clear and accessible style so that the reader is encouraged to read the rest of the article. If possible, make the title bold and the subject of the article's first sentence. The 9x19mm Parabellum or simply called as 9mm '''is a widely used German pistol round. It was designed by Georg Luger and introduced in 1902 by German manufacturer DWM (Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken). Table of contents A table of contents automatically appears in articles with at least four headings. By default, the table of contents is left-aligned above the first section heading. * To force a TOC position (left-aligned): __TOC__ * To remove the TOC from a page: The table of contents can be right-aligned - but '''only if it is very long (over 15 entries) and an information box is not occupying the top-right corner of the article (rare exceptions exist). * Right-aligned TOC that floats next to text: Section headings You can make a section header by typing two equal signs, the title of the header, and then two more equal signs, for example: Example To make subsections, use progressively more equal signs. For example: Subsection of Example Do not italicize or use links in subject headings. When edited, these sections become confusing in the edit history because of the link code. Consider instead putting the word in the first or second sentence of the section and linking it there. Capitalize the first letter only of the first word and of any proper nouns in a heading and leave all of the other letters in lowercase. For example, use "Founding and history," not "Founding and History." Avoid special characters in headings, such as an ampersand (&), a plus sign (+), curly braces ({}), or square braces ([]). In place of the ampersand, use the word "and" unless the ampersand is part of a formal name. Always keep headings short and simple. Headings are guidelines to your page's structure and should inform the reader rather than confuse. To keep it short, avoid unnecessary words or redundancy in headings, i.e. avoid a, an, and the, pronouns, repeating the article title, and so on. Also, try to avoid giving identical titles to different sections. Images Images make an article memorable and attractive. Pictures can speak where words fail. At the same time, misplaced or untidy images can take away from an article. When choosing images, keep in mind placement, size, and the appropriateness of the image to the section. Let images flow with the text instead of break it up. Images should be "300px"s in size, (example: ). Images should generally be right aligned to enhance readability by allowing a smooth flow of text down the left margin - the "thumb" option does this by default. If an infobox is not being used in an article, a right aligned picture in the lead section is encouraged. For more information, see . Image Naming When uploading a picture, avoid putting random names and numbers, the result will be a mixup and inconsistency. When naming the picture, don't space them, instead name the image in an appropriate and formal way (example: or ) or if there are many similar images, add numbers to the end of it like: (example: and and so forth). Galleries When an article has many images, or can be improved by having more, and having inline images detracts from the readability of an article, the use of a section is encouraged. Be sure to end it with. In the gallery, you can put captions to emphasize/describe the image. Image:Example.jpg|Caption Image:Example.jpg|Caption Message boxes and Navigation boxes Article message boxes, which go at the top of an article, are used to alert editors of a page's status. For example, a short article may contain the following message box: You may want to look at Wikipedia:Article message boxes. See also, references, external links, and navigational tables The last sections, if they exist, should always be "See also," followed by "References," followed by "External links." In the case of "See also", use bullets to list the internal links. Under the references section should be placed . Finally, external links should be all external links. Note that use "" and "" when adding references before adding the so that they will be automatically placed and avoid a ";ref error". Please do not add the section "Users" or"Video game appearances". Categories Categories should be added to the end of an article - a full list can be found at . They take the form Category:Categoryname. When creating categories, only capitalize the first letter of the category unless it includes a manufactures name like Category:Smith & Wesson. All articles should be accessible via subcategories of the top level category,Category:Gun Wiki. Disambiguation A disambiguation line is sometimes put at the beginning of an article to link to another article with the same or similar title. The line should be italicized and indented once. Most usually contain the phrase "were you looking for X?" or "You may also be looking for X." For example: : 9mm redirects here, for other uses see 9mm (disambiguation) The template can also be used for this purpose. In cases where multiple uses exist for the same word/phrase, a disambiguation page should be created for the word/phrase, with links to pages for each of the possible uses of the word/phrase. See the 9mm page as an example. When a disambiguation page exists, each of the related subject pages should link back to it in the format noted above, but with the phrasing modified as, : You may also be looking for other uses of . Quotations To make a quotation, use the template. In order to make a quotation complete, one must add the text and speaker. For example, use . This quotation should appear as Writing : “I believe the road to hell is paved with adverbs” -- Stephen King We now come to the meat of an article: the words themselves. When you're editing wikis, you're both academic and artist. You have to be accurate, but you also have to be interesting. Neither one can dominate; you have to skillfully balance both. Keep your writing concise. Don't use two words where one will do. Keeping your writing simple will make it easy to understand and easy to expand on. Use complete sentences whenever possible. When you write, use grammar as a toolbox: know the rules, but only break them on purpose. Check your spelling and grammar. Do not use abbreviations, such as "u" in place of "you" or "2" in place of "to." Write the way you would for a class paper or a newspaper article. Keep all of the topics you cover within the scope of the article. You don't need to give a detailed history of humans on the page about Winston Churchill. Consider the article's title as your point of origin and write from that perspective. Make use of the wiki's ability to link to more detailed articles or external sources for more information. Write from an impersonal perspective. Do not use the first person. For example, do not write "this glitch occurs once a day in Tumbleweed, as far as I know." Avoid drawing attention to the author (yourself) as much as possible. Be bold. If you know something is wrong, correct it. If you can word something better, correct it. If an article has a glaring deficiency, fill it. Even if your first attempt isn't golden, either you or someone else can fix it later. Don't be afraid to screw up. Know the rules. Reading existing pages is a good way to get a general sense of the wiki's style, but the wiki is a work in progress - not all existing pages follow the rules ... yet. Be sure to review the wiki's rules! Conclusion Every article can be improved (even this one). Following these guidelines will not ensure a perfect article the first time, but it will give the article a stronger skeleton. It's ultimately your job as an editor to put meat on it. See also * Project:Manual of Style/Sample - a sample wiki article. External links * Wikipedia's Manual of Style * ''UNSC Marine Corps'' on Halopedia * ''Development of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion'' on Wikipedia * ''Assassin's Creed'' on Assassin's Creed Wiki Category:CommunityCategory:Gun Wiki